And the Winner IS!!!!

Congrats Haggai, you’re flying to New York courtesy of the America Israel Friendship League!

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in our little contest by submitting videos, viewing them on the blog and voting at Madison Square Garden. And to the other 4 finalists who did not win this time, we’d like you to know that the voting was close, and of course we’ll be having more competitions with even bigger and better prizes.

So until next time, shalom peoples…

You Tube Contest Finalists Announced

After fierce competition and loads of entries, we have selected our five finalists (see below) whose videos will be shown at Madison Square Garden at the Israel Festival during the Knicks Maccabi Tel Aviv Exhibition Basketball Game benefiting Migdal Ohr. During the Israel Festival, which will be in full swing before the game in MSG, the audience will be asked to select their favorite video whose creator will be awarded by the America Israel Friendship League with a round trip flight from Israel to NY or NY to Israel.

Israel’s Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv faces off against the Knicks October 11th at 7:00PM in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden to benefit Migdal Ohr. Maccabi became the first international team to win on North American soil in 2005 when they defeated the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.

The Israel festival begins at 5:30PM featuring Israeli music, face painters, stilt walkers, balloon twisters, and most importantly- our video finalists. Remember, you must purchase a ticket for the game to join the festival and vote on your favorite video.

Tickets for the exhibition game can be purchased at TicketMaster outlets, the Madison Square Garden Box Office and nyknicks.com.

And without further ado, here are our finalists:

Haggai - Israel- The Place to be

Amir Ragpoker - Maccabi-Knicks movie

Joel Leyden - Israel Tourism Holy Land Jerusalem

Zohar & Ran- Israel: 24/7

Ken - Israel: A Layered Land

Terms & Conditions

Found Lost at Sea

And for some good news today from the NYT:

October 9, 2007

Israeli, Italian Survive 8 Days on Raft
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MUMBAI, India (AP) — An Israeli woman and an Italian man survived on a life raft for eight days in the Arabian Sea after their yacht sank in a storm, the Indian coast guard said Tuesday.

The couple, identified as Libi Belozerzki, 27, and Pierpaolo Mori, 35, set out from the Maldives on a yacht planning to sail to the Red Sea, but their boat overturned in a late monsoon storm, said Commandant Raj Putran of the Indian coast guard.

Putran said ships in the area were told to look out for the missing sailors after the Rome Maritime Rescue Coordination Center lost contact with them after Sept. 24.

A Belgian tug sighted them and picked them up on Oct. 3, he said. ‘’The yacht had a life raft on board and they survived because they had emergency rations and water.'’

Continue reading Found Lost at Sea…

Israel Launches ‘YouTube’ Video Contest

The Israeli Consulate in NY has teamed up with the AIFL to create a YouTube contest to garner user generated videos about Israel. The winning videos will have a chance to be played on the ‘big screens’ October 11 at Madison Square Garden during the upcoming NY Knicks Maccabi Tel Aviv exhibition basketball game to benefit Migdal Ohr, Israel’s largest and most highly acclaimed youth village. At the game, the audience will be asked to select their favorite video whose creator will be awarded by the America Israel Friendship League with a round trip flight from Israel to NY or NY to Israel.

Israel’s Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv faces off against the Knicks October 11th in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden to benefit Migdal Ohr. Maccabi became the first international team to win on North American soil in 2005 when they defeated the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.

The YouTube contest is open to participants throughout the world and comes to end September 30th. Participants are asked to submit 30 second videos to YouTube about ‘Israeli Sites & Faces’ and comment with a link to your video here on this post at the bottom of this page.

The videos will be judged by a committee at the Consulate and the selected videos will have a chance to be played at the game between the Knicks and Maccabi at the Garden. People attending the game will receive a score card to select their favorite video that may be screened during the game and the video with the highest audience vote will win a round trip flight from either Israel to NY or NY to Israel on behalf of the America Israel Friendship League.

Tickets for the exhibition game can be purchased at TicketMaster outlets, the Madison Square Garden Box Office and nyknicks.com.

Migdal Ohr, Hebrew for “Tower of Light,” operates Israel’s largest youth village, providing much-needed support to more than 6,500 orphaned, abused, underprivileged and new immigrant children in Israel. The organization runs a network of schools, providing academic and vocational studies while integrating new immigrant children into Israeli society through specialized curricula and after-school programs. The organization was founded in 1972 by Israel Prize Laureate Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman. For more information about Migdal Ohr please visit www.migdalohrusa.org.

The America - Israel Friendship League (AIFL) is a non-sectarian, non-political, not-for-profit organization strengthening ties between the people of the United States and Israel; bridging distances to reveal the beauty, the humanity, and the modern democratic values that define both nations.

The videos should exhibit the following qualities:

• Originality
• Creativity;
• Quality of the video;
• Aesthetic quality;
• Sound Quality;
• Individual/Group Initiative;
• Positive Messaging;
• Positive Images;
• Conformity with the theme selected;

Terms & Conditions

Israelis Help to Battle Greek Fires

We hope they are able to help in any way they can. This picture was taken by AFP with a satelite. Unbelievable…

From YNET:

Helping to put out the flames

A group of Israeli firefighters travel to Athens to assist their Greek colleagues in conquering the giant fires

Dani Adino Ababa

A group of 25 Israeli firefighters is leaving for Greece after the Greek government approached Israel on Sunday and asked for assistance in fighting the massive fires in the country.

The commander of the group, Moshe Suissa, said the team will contribute their knowledge and creativity. “We were told we will be in charge of a region. We will follow the Greeks’ instructions. Some of us will be stationed in firehouses in Athens and the rest will head to the disaster zones.”

Suissa added that the group will carry with it only basic equipments such as helmets and fireproof jackets.

Tzahi Levi, one of the firefighters on the team, said: “If our Greek friends need us, we will support them as much as we can. We have the courage, dedication and good will that is needed. We leave today but don’t know when we’ll return.”

Hoenlein is Online

Our Efforts Go Noticed

And now a report on our successful synergistic web-efforts to spread our messages across the inter-networked cyber highway…

New blog presents plight of Israelis in Sderot
Latest PR venture of Israel’s diplomatic mission in New York attracts large Arab audience
Josh Hamerman

After persuading Maxim magazine to hold a photo shoot of Israeli models in Tel Aviv, Israel’s consulate-general in New York turned its attention to a less-glamorous side to Israeli life — the reality of life under rocket fire.

Last month, the consulate’s media and public affairs department launched a blog, IsraelPolitik, to present the plight of Israelis in Sderot. “Unfortunately, the international media in general has avoided this issue, and it’s outrageous,” said David Saranga, consul for media and public affairs in New York. “We’re talking about an Israeli city which has been bombarded by rockets, and the media is not covering it. Our job is to find ways to bring Israel’s message to the mass media, and therefore we launched IsraelPolitik.”

Continue reading Our Efforts Go Noticed…

Videos From Our Readers:

***Big Up Noah***

***Big Up Dekel***

***Big Up ShmaYisrael***

Steven Berkoff- Best Day in TA

Today we’d like to share a travel piece which appeared in the Daily Telegraph. Very well written and insightful.

A tale of Tel Aviv

Daily Telegraph - 10.6.07

The actor and theatre director Steven Berkoff has the best day of his life in Israel’s vibrant and ambitious second city.

It starts at the airport. You are already different. “Where are you travelling?” “Tel Aviv,” I say. “Tel Aviv?” he responds. “Line up on the left side…” At least you skim through, avoiding the long queues going to “normal” destinations.
I have a business-class ticket as I’m performing for two nights at the renowned Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv, so I can go to the lounge… I wish I hadn’t… It’s small and stuffy. Israel is famous for its food. The El Al lounge disgraces it.

I flee the few scraps of salad and try to get back to the comfort and smell of a real café, but they are calling the flight so I amble towards the gate. Everything is going smoothly when a young, very affable woman stops me. The security. She’s as alert as a Geiger counter.

“Why are you going to Israel? Do you speak any Hebrew? Where did you learn Hebrew? Who do you know there?”

“Everybody,” I respond, as I feel I do, my productions having been seen across the country since 1978. She smiles and lets me continue on my way.

On the plane, there is an unusual number of those rather heavy orthodox Jews, most familiar to Gentiles from Fiddler on the Roof.

Continue reading Steven Berkoff- Best Day in TA…

Lovitt Like It Is

Benji Lovitt brings us more of his observations as a new immigrant:

Monday, January 29, 2007
“Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on…..ehhhhh……”
I recently talked to my friend Noga who’s been following my adventures. I was interested but not surprised by her impressions of my writing. She was a tad irked (ech omrim “irk”?), not as much by what was on this site as much as what was NOT. “If I didn’t know you, I would wonder if you were enjoying yourself in Israel. You make fun of things a lot but you don’t always talk about what’s great.” The thought had in fact crossed my mind before; street cons, the toilet paper lady, and cold showers. Maybe she has a point. Those who know me are well-aware that I’m not cynical about life here (apparently unlike every Israeli, according to their opinions of themselves). It’s just more fun to make fun of the ridiculous stuff in life.

“But why did you make fun of the toilet paper lady?” asked Noga. “It’s not just in Israel-they do that in Europe!”

“Yeah, but I’m not IN Europe.”

Nevertheless, the following is dedicated to Noga to let her know that I do think there’s plenty of great stuff in this country. With apologies to Julie Andrews and the typical Yom Ha’atzmaut-ish “Top ___ Things about Israel”, these are a few of my favorite things…

The rest of the post is after the jump.